The Rules Of Good Manners Of Musicians In The 11th Century: The Case Of Kamâlu Adab Al Ghinâ1
AbstractEdvar and treatises written on the musical theory constitutes an important source for musicological studies. Especially between 11th and 13th centuries are considered to be “a period of stagnancy” for the studies on music theory. The encyclopedic work on music titled Kemâlü Edebi’l-Gınâ is produced during this time by Hasan b. Ahmad b. Ali al-Kâtib (d. the first half of 11th century) who probably lived in the same term İbn Sina (d. 1037) and his pupil İbn Zayla (ö. 1048). Kamâlu Adab al Ghinâ stands as a significant work in terms of understanding the musical structure of North Syria until the times of Safi al-Din Urmavî (d. 1294). This book, which has both theoretical and practical details of music, covers topics such as the definition and formation of sound, the discovery time of sound ratios; voice, pitch, tune, intervals and their types, tetrachords and their types, scale and its types, method (tarika), types of music, its merits and meanings, musical terminology, music-lyrics relation, music-space-nafs relation, definition of rythm, its types and terminology, categorization of rythm, specialities of the musician, requirements of performing, specilities of the composer, examination of the musician, plagiarism in music, useful and harmful things for vocal cords and related terms, specialities of the audience, and musical instruments. After a brief review on the treatise and its author, this study will focus on the topics, which present the ideas of “the etiquette of a musician” within the book.